A brief chat with one of my school mates stuck in the floods of Kerala revealed to me how difficult life can be for people with families and responsibilities to suddenly think of alternative ways of living. The usual hour or so journey from his office to his home took him two days! With some suggesting that he move out of Kerala for a couple of weeks, his only reply was, "It's not easy to leave!"
What he meant was not the actual situation of flood or lack of transportation. He actually meant leaving behind every material possession and even the thought of whom to take along when leaving, made leaving all the more impossible. He not only needs to see to his own wife and two kids, there is also his parents, his in-laws and others around. Decisions about whom to send off first, where to and how to are not easy.
For a religious like me, I'd be ready with my whole life possessions within half an hour. But I tried to recreate the same scenario if I'm with a hundred children and a huge house. There is no question of leaving! The children are the first priority, but where do I send them to and even if I do manage to send them somewhere I also need to keep track of them! Add to these children those in the neighbourhood who come to your place because their situation is far worse than ours! Loss of property can be dealt with but how does one cope with loss of life, that too of a dear one. What to do with the corpse? How does the family cope with that loss?
It's not easy!
What he meant was not the actual situation of flood or lack of transportation. He actually meant leaving behind every material possession and even the thought of whom to take along when leaving, made leaving all the more impossible. He not only needs to see to his own wife and two kids, there is also his parents, his in-laws and others around. Decisions about whom to send off first, where to and how to are not easy.
For a religious like me, I'd be ready with my whole life possessions within half an hour. But I tried to recreate the same scenario if I'm with a hundred children and a huge house. There is no question of leaving! The children are the first priority, but where do I send them to and even if I do manage to send them somewhere I also need to keep track of them! Add to these children those in the neighbourhood who come to your place because their situation is far worse than ours! Loss of property can be dealt with but how does one cope with loss of life, that too of a dear one. What to do with the corpse? How does the family cope with that loss?
It's not easy!
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